1. Field of Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to a post driver with a floating post anvil, and more particularly, to a post driver with a floating post anvil that has limited movement to facilitate ease of operation and maximize the amount of available energy to be applied to the post driving process.
2. Background Art
Post Drivers that utilize the pile driving principle of raising a weight to some distance above a post and then dropping the weight in order to drive the post rely heavily upon the skill of the operator to properly position the post driver at the correct height before every cycle of the driver. Such post drivers rely on a post being present to dissipate the energy of the falling weight. When a post is properly positioned within the post driver, the kinetic energy of the falling weight is transferred into the post, pushing it into the ground. However, when a post is not properly positioned within the post driver, the weight may fail to contact the post upon falling, and may instead impact upon the frame of the post driver. Such a so-called “dry fire” can damage the post driver apparatus.
Many post drivers all work on the pile driving principle of raising a weight to some distance above a post and then dropping the weight in order to drive the post. Some such drivers utilize a floating post anvil that rests on the top of the post and is allowed to move up or down in relation to the vertical position of the driver. The anvil is designed to protect the post so that the post is not damaged by the falling weight. Generally, the post is positioned within the post driver such that the anvil rests on top of the post. When the weight falls, it impacts the anvil rather than directly striking the post. The kinetic energy is still transferred into the post, pushing it into the ground, but through the intermediary of the anvil so as to protect the post. This type of design relies heavily upon the skill of the operator to properly position the post driver at the correct height. If the driver is positioned too high and the anvil is not in contact with the post and/or is already resting at the bottom of the post driver frame, a dry firing situation may occur, causing damage to the driver. If the driver is positioned too low such that the post extends too far up into the post driver, the overall driving performance is diminished due to the shorter stroke length.
Further, during the operation of the post driver, the operator must lower the driver as the post is driven into the ground in order to prevent dry firing of the driver. This lowering of the driver can be a difficult process depending upon the skill of the operator thus increasing the time required to drive a post. It is common for the driver to be lowered too far which greatly reduces the performance of the driver due to the shorter distance the weight is dropped. Thus, a driver with limited movement floating post anvil would solve these issues.